Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The referendum took place and the people spoke. There has been a protracted debate on abortion down through the years, even when we were youngsters. The issue caused great differences of opinion between people. Ireland has changed a good bit since then, considering the votes that took place before. I do not think anyone questions the numbers in the referendum, the 66% or 67%. The Irish people spoke unanimously to remove the eighth amendment from the Constitution. That has to be recognised. I do not think there is a Deputy who does not recognise the vote. However, there is one other thing that also needs to be recognised. I watched the debate between the presidential candidates last night. It was the only night so far that the candidates sparred with each other, which is not good in any debate. No matter what side we are on, as the previous Deputy said, people are entitled to different views. There is 34% of the population who still believe what they believed. They are entitled to that belief and we must recognise it, as we must also recognise those who voted "Yes". There is an obligation on every one of us as public representatives to do that. Respect is needed on all sides.

A budget will put in place for abortion services. We should ensure services are free for all women who are expecting a child, whether they want to go ahead and have the child or want to have an abortion, if that is the road we are going down at the moment. People need to be given the choice, as the people of Ireland have decided. That should be done as soon as possible.

Looking at other parts of our health service, I do not want to hear in one, two or three years' time that somebody could not get a counsellor or anyone to talk to. I see in mental health services at the moment that we have lovely glossy magazines about what we are going to do for people. There is talk about community care teams but unfortunately some people do not get the services described in the glossy booklet. I ask the Minister to make sure the services are put in place in the way of counsellors and people giving advice so we do not have people saying in a year or two that this or that did not happen.

On my way up this morning, I was listening to a debate on the radio. There was a person talking about schools, parents and youngsters. They were on about Facebook, Snapchat and all the different things and saying how parents need to make sure to keep an eye. They were on about bullying and online abuse and saying the parents need to keep tabs on a lot of these things. I hope it does not happen but if there is a 13 or 14 year old who decides she wants to have an abortion, what is the scenario? This is not clear from what I have read and I would like the Minister to give us clarification on that.

No more than anyone else, I do not claim to be an expert but I have met health service professionals such as local doctors, midwives and even consultants working in all parts of the health service. I am fairly tough skinned but the other evening I met some of them and I found the meeting touching enough. Some of these people feel they are being boxed into a corner. If someone wants an abortion, the facilities need to be available. However, I cannot understand why we do not first provide a helpline or phone number. The Department or the HSE should know all the different doctors and places in every county that would be prepared to carry out an abortion. It should be done without forcing those who have a belief that they cannot do this. That message was coming across very strongly the other night and we need to work around that. We cannot afford to lose too many from the health service. That is the first thing.

Some of them were in tears when I met them the other night. They are adamant that they will not stay in a service where they have to do it. They are not saying it cannot happen. They just do not want to be forced to do something that is totally against their beliefs. While I am not a legal expert, we need to work around that in case down the line someone decides they are not going to be forced into something. Where does it go if someone refuses to do it? We know that the HSE cannot get rid of somebody for no reason. Some of these people are talking about leaving, which is very unfortunate to hear. These are good people. It is important to find some solution to that. The Minister may have better ideas. I suggest having a helpline that is advertised everywhere, including on television, in newspapers, online etc. so that people can just make one quick phone call and know who is prepared to look after it in the different counties. That may be a workable solution. I do not say it is the only one. There may be better ideas for doing that.

The Minister spoke about the disability issue before the referendum. We also need clarification on that. I will not stay here talking. The previous speaker mentioned people trying to hold up the legislation. I am not into that. It was rightly pointed out that there are ways of doing things if the Government wants to get it through. People recognise that abortion will happen in Ireland. It will be carried out in hospitals or in whatever scenario the Minister sets up for it. We need to ensure healthcare professionals are not forced into something. If that happens, it is not a great way of doing it. I ask the Minister to come back to us with clarification on those points. I will not take up any more of the Minister's time.

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